Manziel regarding his career decision? ‘Nowhere close’ in terms of announcement

ATLANTA – Johnny Manziel is so healthy and champing at the bit, the Texas A&M sophomore quarterback said Sunday he wished the Aggies were facing Duke on Sunday night.

“I feel really good,” Manziel said during a press conference to tout Tuesday night’s Chick-fil-A Bowl in the Georgia Dome. “I’m really tired of having to sit (around) and continue to practice, and continue to wait for the game. We’re ready to get back on the field.”

By the end of the No. 21 Aggies’ 8-4 regular season, Manziel was hampered by a hurt thumb, leg, knee and shoulder.

“I was a little banged up,” he said. “… But I’m healthy and ready to play in the bowl game.”

A few highlights from Manziel’s extended visit with the media on Sunday:

* On where he is in terms of making an announcement whether he intends to turn pro or return for his junior season (all indications are he’ll declare for the NFL): “Nowhere even close.”

* On newly-promoted offensive coordinator Jake Spavital calling the plays from the sidelines (Clarence McKinney, who spent the regular season calling plays from the press box, has returned to coaching A&M running backs): “The plays will come in quicker, and hopefully we’ll get in more of a rhythm. … (Plays) coming in directly from the sideline will help speed that up a bit.”

* On Duke’s defense: “Duke has a lot of fire. They swarm to the ball. It’s hard to compare who they would be like in the SEC, but look at what they did at the beginning of the Florida State game, they really slowed that high-powered offense down.” (The Seminoles still wound up prevailing 45-7 in the ACC title game).

* On what happened to the offense in the last two games of the regular season, in losses at LSU (34-10) and Missouri (28-21): “(Lack of) confidence. If I could pinpoint one thing, I would say that would probably be the main thing. We were not playing with the swagger or juice that we needed to be playing with. How the Auburn game turned out (a 45-41 loss on Oct. 19 at Kyle Field) … stung for a long time, especially offensively.

“We just kind of lost our confidence and never really could get it back. We’ve had a great week of bowl practice, and I’m excited and we’re all ready to go.”